New manatee research could benefit humans

Scientists are getting new insight into the endangered species, and how research done right on Florida's Gulf coast could go beyond the gentle giants to humans.

"We're trying to figure out how the Florida manatee survives in the wild," says MOTE Marine Supervisor of Manatee research Kat Nicolaisen.

Survival is something Buffett and Hugh, two manatees at MOTE Marine, don't have to worry about.

But they're participating in a new study to help their endangered brothers and sisters -- and researchers are now publishing their first study on the creatures' facial hair.

"They actually will approach an object first with their face, and use those whiskers to kind of identify it and see what it is. Then either continue to show interest or back away from it," said Nicolaisen.

Their whiskers, called vibrissae, give manatees a 3D mental look at their environment. It's a sense that can save their lives.

Researchers already knew that manatees don't have a great sense of sight, but what they learned in this study is that whiskers on the manatee's face are just as sensitive, if not more sensitive, than human fingertips.

"Why not learn from them and hopefully come up with novel techniques or treatments clinically, ways to evolve sensory loss and come up with new ways to adopt that?" Dr. Gaspard said. "Ultimately, this is a unique animal model that could fall into that realm."